Production

In 2017, the Russian company Cherkizovo launched a new pig farm in the Lipetsk region, increasing its pork production by over 350,000 head a year. Cherkizovo, already the country’s second-largest meat producer, ended up with a pig herd of more than 2 million head by the end of that year.¹ Meanwhile, in March of that same year, 1,327 pigs belonging to small household farms in Irkutsk oblast were slaughtered within three days.² This event was precipitated by the death of a pig infected with African Swine Fever (ASF), a lethal disease that rapidly spreads and swiftly kills affected animals. The